The Dallas Morning News Puts Up Another Paywall

Starting Tuesday, content on The Dallas Morning News' two major websites, DallasNews.com and SportsDayDFW.com exists behind a metered paywall. Any reader hoping to view more than 10 articles a month on the sites can expect to be asked to pay for a digital subscription — or adopt one of the many easy ways to get around metered paywalls — before taking a look at their 11th story. Monthly subscriptions will run $.99 for the first month and $9.95 each subsequent month. Yearly subscriptions are $99.50

“It just seems like an appropriate business move,” Morning News Editor in Chief Mike Wilson said in the paper's announcement. “Our journalism is going to be what I hope it always has been: essential to people in North Texas.”

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The Morning News' last attempt at a paywall went down in flames in 2014 after the paper couldn't get readers to adopt the premium, paid version of its website when each article available on the paid version was available with slightly more obnoxious presentation on the free version of DallasNews.com.

Now for how to get around the thing, for those who can't, or are unwilling to, pay. (The works generally. We haven't tested it on the DMN.) If you use a browser with an incognito or private browsing option, like, say, Google Chrome, simply open an incognito window to keep reading once you've hit your limit. The way metered paywalls like the News' — and The New York Times' — work is by cookie-based counting. Incognito mode doesn't accept cookies, so your article views won't be counted. You can also just dig around in your cookies and delete the Morning News' tracker, should you so choose. It also worth noting that, at least on the Times' website, your article count will not increase if you click through from Google or social media.

Nicki Purcell, the DMN's chief digital officer made the reason for the paywall clear.

“The revenue opportunity from deploying a meter, based on what we’ve seen from other media properties, is in the millions,” Purcell said in the announcement.

Stephen Young has written about Dallas news for the Observer since 2014. He's a Dallas native and a graduate of the University of North Texas.